More Thuggery on the GAA field

[AQMP]

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If what they say happened, happened, then it's out of order. Simple as that. I know you think they are whinging, and that's one point of view, but some things are just beyond the beyond on a football field. If that's deemed acceptable to you, well I suppose we just completely disagree about what is part of the game.

There are two sides to every story so who is to say Dromid weren't at the same. I mean, when you heard reports initially, they managed to leave out the small detail that the melee began when their player smacked the Derrytresk manager.

HS,

There is indeed two sides to every story but having been there and seen the antics of "some" of the Derrytresk men from before the ball was thrown in and in particular the treatment dished out to O'Sullivan its a load of balls to sit there and call them bullshitters. The same gulpins then tried to rub his nose into it after the match. A slap in the mouth would be to good for them.

Was that intentional oakleaf??

[Tubberman]

The fight itself was bad enough, but sadly it's not that uncommon. The two things that disappoint me most and would make it hard to argue with those who have no time for the GAA are:

1. Subs and club 'officials' leaping over the hoarding to get involved. There is absolutely no circumstances when that is tolerable and they should be made examples of. I was listening to the radio this morning and the incident was discussed at length on both Today FM and Newstalk. This is a PR disaster for the GAA, and people would want to stop burying their heads in the sand trying to pretend "there's nothing to see here".

2. The response on this board by many of the posters, mainly from Ulster it has to be said, who are trying to downplay what happened as Dromid/Kerry bitterness. With that kind of attitude there is no hope of this shite being stamped out from the grassroots. I'd seriously doubt there is the appetite to stop this kind of behaviour, some seem to view it as 'passion' and 'part of the game' because it's 'a man's game'.

[Whishtup]

You have to hand it to Dromid-they are really goin to town in the media.  I spoke to a lady who travelled to the match with her children from Derrytresk only to be met with a barrage of "Northern scum" taunts from Dromid fans the whole way through the match.  She said it was relentless and not for her children to hear.
  According to her, Dromid were trying to tr**p Derrytresk into the ground from the whistle blew-(don't forget how young this Derrytresk team is) and were lucky to have so many men on the pitch at half time-radio coverage seemed to back this up.
Also-post match melee seemed to start when a certain high profile  Dromid player punched a young Derrytresk player in the face, after he offered a handshake.  That's what I heard.
So let's be fair and take into account the two sides, instead of rolling on the crest of a cleverly constructed media campaign by Dromid Pearses.   

Against all the odds in nearly all the matches, Derrytresk have progressed to the final of this competition and I commend them for standing up against some of the best in the country.  What those subs did was wrong, but they are young and inexperienced and will learn from it.  They have never been faced by the situation created by the actions of the Dromid Pearses players that day. 

Dromid, you lost, get over it.
     

[AZOffaly]

Does anyone see the number 6 get the dig that concussed him? I must be missing it or something. I can see him being restrained to the right of the picture at the end but didnt see him getting hit.

It was number 9, Thomas Curran, that got concussed. It happens on the left of the video, when his face is turned away, and he is struck by a guy in a grey hoodie. Number 10 is then struck by a smaller rounder guy, again when he was looking away. The same small round guy then joined in the crowd surrounding the number 5, who is on the ground, and swings a kick at him.

I wish it wasn't a crowd from Tyrone versus a crowd from Kerry, because it's too easy for people on all sides to fall into the trap of 'us' v 'them', which is ridiculous. It's all 'us', and it's our association.

And this talk of who won the row is straight off the playground. It's easy enough win a row when there's 30 of one crowd against 5 or 6 of the other. They're fairly good odds, but that argument is irrelevant anyway.

[clarshack]

i'm really starting to fear for derrytresk now.

2 major problems for the hill are:

(1) the guy in the hoodie who jumps from the stand and takes out midfielder thomas curran (who had already scored 2 points from play) and who is unable to play in the 2nd half due to concussion.

(2) the derrytresk no. 11 can be seen striking a dromid player on the ground (17 secs) and he then goes on to score a crucial goal in the 2nd half.

it's obvious dromid started the row when their player struck a derrytresk mentor. however croke park will probably not focus on why it happened but rather they'll focus on the melee from when it happened.

[cicfada]

I remeber in the 1980s  in Ballinalsloe seeing a fight in a hurling match with spectators involved! This kind of thing has happened  a lot down the years and if nothing has been done in the past it won't be done now! It's a pity as it gives the more ignorant a stick to beat us with! In 2009  in the Munster Club football Junior final in Tralee there were disgraceful scenes as spectators and players/officials became involved in a huge fight there.  I can't wait for the first person in Castlegregory to mention the fight on Sunday as I will remind them of that match!!It is a shame that it is a Tyrone team involved in this as the temptation to smear all Tyrone/Northern teams must be huge for those same ignorant people!   It's time to try to put a stop to it though  so I would suggest that the culprits be banned in particular those subs who jumped over the hoardings to get involved! That inflamed the situation and there is no excuse for that! Both clubs have a case to answer for sure! I remember when we were doing some work on our pitch in Blarney a few years ago, we had wanted to put teams on opposing sides of the pitch. We were told that we had to install both new dug outs on the same side as  the sideline official would have to  have access to both panels on the same side  of the pitch!! Isn't it time to examine something like this? Also  don't pitches have to have some kind of fencing on the side of the pitch? It would help woudn't it?? Reading Michael Clifford's article makes for awkward reading today ( in the Examiner)! I really don't want to have to keep reading those kind of articles!!

[NAG1]

Does anyone see the number 6 get the dig that concussed him? I must be missing it or something. I can see him being restrained to the right of the picture at the end but didnt see him getting hit.

It was number 9, Thomas Curran, that got concussed. It happens on the left of the video, when his face is turned away, and he is struck by a guy in a grey hoodie. Number 10 is then struck by a smaller rounder guy, again when he was looking away. The same small round guy then joined in the crowd surrounding the number 5, who is on the ground, and swings a kick at him.

I wish it wasn't a crowd from Tyrone versus a crowd from Kerry, because it's too easy for people on all sides to fall into the trap of 'us' v 'them', which is ridiculous. It's all 'us', and it's our association.

And this talk of who won the row is straight off the playground. It's easy enough win a row when there's 30 of one crowd against 5 or 6 of the other. They're fairly good odds, but that argument is irrelevant anyway.

Yeah that's why i was confused sloppy journalism, just looking a cheap shot at the GAA and couldn't even watch the tape himself.

[AZOffaly]

Does anyone see the number 6 get the dig that concussed him? I must be missing it or something. I can see him being restrained to the right of the picture at the end but didnt see him getting hit.

It was number 9, Thomas Curran, that got concussed. It happens on the left of the video, when his face is turned away, and he is struck by a guy in a grey hoodie. Number 10 is then struck by a smaller rounder guy, again when he was looking away. The same small round guy then joined in the crowd surrounding the number 5, who is on the ground, and swings a kick at him.

In the interest of fairness, let's say that Number 5 wasn't trying to walk away at any stage.

True. But it's also true to say that at that stage he wasn't able to walk away as he was on the ground with about 8 people 'attending' to him. Look, I'm compromised here because of my natural bias towards Dromid and some of their players, but I'm trying to be honest in what I saw on the video. I hope to see the full video as well, and that might tell a story. My honest opinion of that incident (because that's the only incident I've seen) is that the Derrytresk mentors should not have been involved in the initial incident, the Dromid players should not have run in to confront the mentors, and the Derrytresk subs should not have entered the field of play at all. I then think that when they did enter the field they took grevious advantage of their numerical superiority to dish out uncalled for digs, which is not manly in my point of view anyway.

That's all I'm going to say about it, because I'll struggle to be any more objective than that.

By the way, I also should say (just to contradict myself about saying no more) that I don't see any supporters involved in that row. I think people from Dromid might be confused about supporters in that row because the subs in Portlaoise come in from the stands. Not that it mitigates the substitutes actions in any way, but it is important to be fair to the supporters too. I saw mentors and subs, not fans.

[Donnellys Hollow]

don't forget how young this Derrytresk team is

Irrelevant. I have coached several underage teams and not one player I ever encountered behaved in such a reckless manner.

cleverly constructed media campaign by Dromid Pearses.

They're a very small club from the Iveragh Peninsula. Not feckin' Tony O'Reilly, Denis O'Brien or Rupert Murdoch.

What those subs did was wrong, but they are young and inexperienced and will learn from it.

Their actions are indefensible regardless of age or experience. Any man playing senior football is old enough to be responsible for his own actions. They should be facing serious sanctions but I won't be holding my breath.

[AZOffaly]

Does anyone see the number 6 get the dig that concussed him? I must be missing it or something. I can see him being restrained to the right of the picture at the end but didnt see him getting hit.

It was number 9, Thomas Curran, that got concussed. It happens on the left of the video, when his face is turned away, and he is struck by a guy in a grey hoodie. Number 10 is then struck by a smaller rounder guy, again when he was looking away. The same small round guy then joined in the crowd surrounding the number 5, who is on the ground, and swings a kick at him.

In the interest of fairness, let's say that Number 5 wasn't trying to walk away at any stage.

True. But it's also true to say that at that stage he wasn't able to walk away as he was on the ground with about 8 people 'attending' to him. Look, I'm compromised here because of my natural bias towards Dromid and some of their players, but I'm trying to be honest in what I saw on the video. I hope to see the full video as well, and that might tell a story. My honest opinion of that incident (because that's the only incident I've seen) is that the Derrytresk mentors should not have been involved in the initial incident, the Dromid players should not have run in to confront the mentors, and the Derrytresk subs should not have entered the field of play at all. I then think that when they did enter the field they took grevious advantage of their numerical superiority to dish out uncalled for digs, which is not manly in my point of view anyway.

That's all I'm going to say about it, because I'll struggle to be any more objective than that.

By the way, I also should say (just to contradict myself) that I don't see any supporters involved in that row. I think people from Dromid might be confused about supporters in that row because the subs in Portlaoise come in from the stands. Not that it mitigates the substitutes actions in any way, but it is important to be fair to the supporters too. I saw mentors and subs, not fans.

Just to be clear, all digs from both teams were uncalled for, not just those digs from Derrytresk subs.

Sorry, bad choice of words. What I meant was that some of the digs from the subs were on people who were not looking at them, in situations where they were outnumbering the man they were blindsiding by about 3 or 4 to 1 at least. That's what I meant.

[clarshack]

dont forget that dromids neighbours (st mary's cahirchiveen) went all the way last year to all-ireland junior glory.
dromid thought they had the god given right to do the same but derrytresk sent them home with their tails between their legs.
and now because dromid cant take their beating they are doing everything they can to hurt derrytresk big time.

[AZOffaly]

dont forget that dromids neighbours (st mary's cahirchiveen) went all the way last year to all-ireland junior glory.
dromid thought they had the god given right to do the same but derrytresk sent them home with their tails between their legs.
and now because dromid cant take their beating they are doing everything they can to hurt derrytresk big time.

Untrue and unfair. Dromid were very worried about this fixture. Dromid have lost many games over the years, and a good few that meant a lot to them. This has never been their reaction before. I won't accept this 'can't take their beating' nonsense. In fact one of the lads I was talking to yesterday said, and I'm trying to quote 'I wouldn't mind but they were great footballers, there was no need for this'.

[fearglasmor]

The world in which the GAA operates has changed dramatically since the 1980's While in the past the GAA authorities could pay lip service to these incidents but actually do nothing substantial about them, they can no longer afford to do this. Soccer has established itself in every rural community in the country and rugby is fast following suit. Munster and Leinster didnt exist in the rugby world in the way they do now. International sports media are beaming images of professional sports into the homes of kids and their parents and domestic commercial media are chomping at the bit to generate as much column inches and air time as they can from any falls that the GAA self inflict.

It hasnt fallen to the extent the catholic church has, obviously, but similarly, The GAA is in a much less deferrential environment.

If something substantial is done in relation to this incident, unfortunately it will not be for the right reasons, but the end result will be the same.
Because teh GAA can not afford to do nothing, again.

[AZOffaly]

Does anyone see the number 6 get the dig that concussed him? I must be missing it or something. I can see him being restrained to the right of the picture at the end but didnt see him getting hit.

It was number 9, Thomas Curran, that got concussed. It happens on the left of the video, when his face is turned away, and he is struck by a guy in a grey hoodie. Number 10 is then struck by a smaller rounder guy, again when he was looking away. The same small round guy then joined in the crowd surrounding the number 5, who is on the ground, and swings a kick at him.

In the interest of fairness, let's say that Number 5 wasn't trying to walk away at any stage.

True. But it's also true to say that at that stage he wasn't able to walk away as he was on the ground with about 8 people 'attending' to him. Look, I'm compromised here because of my natural bias towards Dromid and some of their players, but I'm trying to be honest in what I saw on the video. I hope to see the full video as well, and that might tell a story. My honest opinion of that incident (because that's the only incident I've seen) is that the Derrytresk mentors should not have been involved in the initial incident, the Dromid players should not have run in to confront the mentors, and the Derrytresk subs should not have entered the field of play at all. I then think that when they did enter the field they took grevious advantage of their numerical superiority to dish out uncalled for digs, which is not manly in my point of view anyway.

That's all I'm going to say about it, because I'll struggle to be any more objective than that.

By the way, I also should say (just to contradict myself) that I don't see any supporters involved in that row. I think people from Dromid might be confused about supporters in that row because the subs in Portlaoise come in from the stands. Not that it mitigates the substitutes actions in any way, but it is important to be fair to the supporters too. I saw mentors and subs, not fans.

Just to be clear, all digs from both teams were uncalled for, not just those digs from Derrytresk subs.

Sorry, bad choice of words. What I meant was that some of the digs from the subs were on people who were not looking at them, in situations where they were outnumbering the man they were blindsiding by about 3 or 4 to 1 at least. That's what I meant.

Number 5 enters the row by pushing two people and hitting someone a punch from behind.

That is just not true. He pushed one mentor, turned around and pushed another mentor, and then swung around and got involved with number 18. He did not punch anybody from behind. I've just looked at that video clip again. Anyone know how to post a clip here?

[Whishtup]

don't forget how young this Derrytresk team is

Irrelevant. I have coached several underage teams and not one player I ever encountered behaved in such a reckless manner.

cleverly constructed media campaign by Dromid Pearses.

They're a very small club from the Iveragh Peninsula. Not feckin' Tony O'Reilly, Denis O'Brien or Rupert Murdoch.

What those subs did was wrong, but they are young and inexperienced and will learn from it.

Their actions are indefensible regardless of age or experience. Any man playing senior football is old enough to be responsible for his own actions. They should be facing serious sanctions but I won't be holding my breath.

1. So, you think that a team of fit teenagers will react better to rough-house tactics than a team of experienced campaigners-that's surprising.

2. One of their members brought it to the Joe Duffy-it has been brought to rte/bbc-D o'Sullivan Comments, Their manager's comments, etc!

3. Nobody is defending their actions.